The San Diego Padres are short on quality starting pitching, which is why they added Walker Buehler to their roster.
The San Diego Padres will carry starter Walker Buehler on their Opening Day rotation, according to a report from Anthony Franco of MLBTradeRumors.com via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
While Buehler pitched fairly well in camp, this move doesn’t necessarily lock him into a back-of-the-rotation role for Padres. Buehler had the Padres at least partially over a barrel here, as he would have been able to request his release tomorrow if this move wasn’t made. The move locks Buehler into a $1.5 million base salary when the Padres break camp, with another $2.5 million in active roster bonuses available if he pitches well going forward.
Whether he can do that is very much in question. Buehler has had two straight rough seasons, with both characterized by excellent outings or some superb innings that didn’t hold up when he couldn’t command the strike zone. The Padres are taking a big gamble here for a relatively small amount of money, but given where their rotation is right now, they really didn’t have much choice.
Buehler’s recent numbers inlcde a 4.93 ERA with a career-worst strikeout rate across 126 innings, according to Franco. He’s pitched in three Cactus League games so far, giving up four runs to go with 13 strikeouts and four walks over 11-2/3 innings. Buehler has six pitches to work with, but his velocity is down to 92-93 on his fastball.
The issue to watch here with Buehler, however, is command. When he loses the strike zone he tends to get hit hard, especially when he’s up in the zone. It’ll be interesting to see how patient the Padres will be with this sort of thing, but with starter Joe Musgrove out due to injury and a short list of other options, San Diego may have no choice but to carry him for a while.
Another veteran who has the ability to force the issue in San Diego is infielder Ty France, who’s had a strong spring. He can also request his release if he’s not added to the roster, according to Franco, and his minor league deal comes with a $1.35 million base salary. He’s been competing with another minor league signee, infielder Jose Miranda, for a role, and Miranda has also had an excellent spring.
The problem with keeping both is that utility infielder Sung-Mun Song is currently out with a strained oblique, and the Padres have no firm timeline for getting him back. In addition, the Padres have ruled out reliever Yuki Matsui for Opening Day, according to manager Craig Stammen.